Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Suspected Mastermind of 9/11 Attacks Arrested

Aired March 03, 2003 - 06:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the big arrest. The U.S. is now, no doubt, pressuring Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man. They want him to spill some al Qaeda secrets.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was arrested in a surprise raid in Pakistan on Saturday. Mohammed, seen here in earlier pictures, is believed to be linked to nearly every al Qaeda attack in the past 10 years.

So, back to our original question: How to get this key al Qaeda operative to talk.

We take you to Amman, Jordan and our own terror expert and correspondent, Mike Boettcher.

Good morning -- Mike. What does Mohammed know?

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, he knows everything about the operations. He was in on planning and organizing cells all the way from Malaysia and the Far East, across to Europe and in the United States.

And coalition intelligence sources tell me that in recent months, he was focusing on cells in the United States. So, his arrest comes at a very good time, according to these sources. They say he was planning attacks in the United States.

Although Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the one in al Qaeda who recognized early that it was going to be more difficult for them to launch big attacks, like 9/11, after the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, so he said to his people sent out -- and these are people who have been arrested, detained, interrogated -- he told them to go for softer targets.

He was also the one that sort of reorganized al Qaeda, forming alliances with other terrorist groups knowing that al Qaeda could not exist on its own -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, having said that, Mike, does his arrest bust up al Qaeda once and for all?

BOETTCHER: No, it does not, but it sure makes it difficult for these cells to operate. It will be a serious morale blow, according to terrorism experts I've spoken to. Imagine you are a sleeper cell out there some place in the world, and the person you've been in communication with, the point man between you and bin Laden, is arrested, and only one lieutenant out of the top four of al Qaeda still remain free. That has to be a serious blow.

But al Qaeda has formed these alliances with other terrorist groups around the world, and they still exist. There are still many of them out there. It doesn't break the back, but it sure puts a pain in their back, so to speak.

COSTELLO: All right, Mike Boettcher reporting live from Jordan this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired March 3, 2003 - 06:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the big arrest. The U.S. is now, no doubt, pressuring Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man. They want him to spill some al Qaeda secrets.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was arrested in a surprise raid in Pakistan on Saturday. Mohammed, seen here in earlier pictures, is believed to be linked to nearly every al Qaeda attack in the past 10 years.

So, back to our original question: How to get this key al Qaeda operative to talk.

We take you to Amman, Jordan and our own terror expert and correspondent, Mike Boettcher.

Good morning -- Mike. What does Mohammed know?

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, he knows everything about the operations. He was in on planning and organizing cells all the way from Malaysia and the Far East, across to Europe and in the United States.

And coalition intelligence sources tell me that in recent months, he was focusing on cells in the United States. So, his arrest comes at a very good time, according to these sources. They say he was planning attacks in the United States.

Although Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the one in al Qaeda who recognized early that it was going to be more difficult for them to launch big attacks, like 9/11, after the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, so he said to his people sent out -- and these are people who have been arrested, detained, interrogated -- he told them to go for softer targets.

He was also the one that sort of reorganized al Qaeda, forming alliances with other terrorist groups knowing that al Qaeda could not exist on its own -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, having said that, Mike, does his arrest bust up al Qaeda once and for all?

BOETTCHER: No, it does not, but it sure makes it difficult for these cells to operate. It will be a serious morale blow, according to terrorism experts I've spoken to. Imagine you are a sleeper cell out there some place in the world, and the person you've been in communication with, the point man between you and bin Laden, is arrested, and only one lieutenant out of the top four of al Qaeda still remain free. That has to be a serious blow.

But al Qaeda has formed these alliances with other terrorist groups around the world, and they still exist. There are still many of them out there. It doesn't break the back, but it sure puts a pain in their back, so to speak.

COSTELLO: All right, Mike Boettcher reporting live from Jordan this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.